Wednesday 11th
It was another
early start and temperatures had plummeted over night to -8˚C! We were driving 130kms west towards Bourges
and the appellation of Menetou Salon to meet a new producer Bernard Minchin. Bernard
is quite a character and his beaming smile and energy certainly livened up the
frosty morning! Bernard’s grandfather had worked vines since before the war in
both appellations of Valencay east of Bourges and Menetou Salon to the north-east. Bernard took control of the domaine in 2004
and nothing but quality was in his mind from the word go. Stunning wines
throughout the range we tasted and yet another winemaker to watch for!
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| Bernard Minchin |
The final leg of
the Loire wine trek was now in sight and we were on our way north east to Bué,
a small village in the Sancerre Appellation. A Narnia world of fields of frost
finally gave way to the spectacular steep côteaux of the Sancerre
vineyards.
At the very top of
the central, windy road in the heart of Bué we met characterful Joel Cirotte of
Domaine de La Croix St Laurent. Joel works the domaine’s vines and makes the
wine with his wife Sylvie, daughter Marie and his son Fabien who also brings
experience from New Zealand to the family estate. Although based in the
Sancerre Cru of Bué the Cirotte family have vineyards in nearby Crezancy and
the slopes of Sancerre itself.
Micro-cuvees is the
name of the game here, each tiny parcel being carefully vinified apart to make
either a single wine or to be part of a complex blend. A classy
winemaker … and it looks like the close friendship with Alphonse Mellot has
rubbed off on this tiny estate.
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| Joel Cirotte |
A wonderful lunch
was laid on by Sylvie in the cosy, thatched family cottage, lovely
wines finished with some delightful local goat cheeses.
Before heading to
Sancerre village itself we took a small stop in another world famous
appellation: Pouilly-Fume!
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| Pouilly-Fumé |
Christophe Denoel
at the Caves de Pouilly has done wonders for the growers by introducing new
winemaking techniques, vinification and bottling facilities. This has filled
the missing link and the wines produced are of the highest quality. It’s no
surprise that we have been buying from them ever since this revolution and the
cave is now home to two of our top selling wines: the Larmes de Pierre and Les
Rochettes. The 2013s were no disappointment and quality is high across the
board.
However, before
leaving Pouilly-Fume there is one place which is a must visit: the legendary
Domaine Didier Dagueneau. Since Didier’s tragic death in 2008, the domaine has
been run with the same high standards by his talented son-and-daughter team,
Louis-Benjamin and Charlotte. We were
fortunate to have a personal tour by Charlotte and we tasted a range of recent
vintages including 2012s from vat. Incredible wines and an unforgettable
tasting experience.
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| Charlotte Dagueneau |
Sancerre next and
the amazing amphitheatre of vineyards with the village itself sitting on the
crest of the famous hill were soon insight.
After Dagueneau there is only one place to go next and that’s to taste
the exquisite wines of Domaine Alphonse Mellot!
The Domaine
Alphonse Mellot is located in the heart of the Sancerre village and has a quite
extraordinary history, celebrating 500 years of winemaking this year! The
current winemakers Alphonse Jr and his sister Emmanuelle are the 19th generation!
They continue to push boundaries in all aspects of winemaking and the
immaculate cellars and wines show this clearly.
We were met by
Emmanuelle Mellot for a quick tour of the underground maze of barrels and
fermentation cellars before being joined by Alphonse Jr and getting onto the
serious work of the tasting. We were
extremely privileged to have an extensive range tasting of the 2011, 2012 and
2013’s. For me, the most impressive are the rich, concentrated barrel-aged
Pinot Noirs … unlike anything I have ever tried from Sancerre before.
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| Alphonse and Emmanuelle |
Now dark outside,
the day was far from over as we drove back down from Sancerre to see a couple
of good value Sancerre producers in the village of Verdigny. First we popped into Domaine
Raimbault-Pineau. Jean-Marie is a true farmer and seems to have his fingers in
all sorts of pies. His chaotic winery with vats of wines everywhere is a real
treasure trove; you just have to find the gems! We get to taste all the 2013’s
here and we certainly found some good and well priced wines.
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| Jean-Marie Raimbaut |
Just round the
corner in the same village are Domaine Daniel Reverdy and our good friend
Cyrille Reverdy who is now running his father’s domaine. This is an amazing story:
Abi found this ambitious young winemaker 10 years ago. Neither he nor his
father had ever put any of their grapes into bottle as they were part of the
cooperative. That was until young Cyrille made an experimental vat in a makeshift
winery. Abi bought the wine and 10 years on Cyrille is making magnificent and
successful Sancerre and we are the only wine merchant who gets our very own
blend! He has also, for the first time,
added a lovely limited-production rosé to his repertoire. And yes, we snapped
this up there and then. All of it!
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